"Giving the Gift away!" (Fourth Sunday of Advent)

"Giving the Gift Away!"

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2010

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

December 19, 2010

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, I want to share a teaching with you entitled "Giving the Gift Away!" During this Christmas season we have learned about the great Gift-Giver and His love for us—God the Father; about the perfect Gift in His Son Jesus Christ; and about the work of the Holy Spirit who brings us to life with freedom and security once we accept the Christmas gift by asking Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior. Today, we are going to learn what we are supposed to do with the gift once we have it. We are to give Him away!

The word of God from John 12:23-28 (NIV), "Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷ "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.'"

The cross of Jesus Christ would hold no power for the salvation of the world without the miracle of Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is the incarnation. God, who is spirit, took on flesh, and dwelt among us. He is Immanuel—God is with us! God dwelt amongst us because the heart of God is mission! We serve the God of mission and since this is the heart of God, it is also the heart of every disciple of Jesus Christ and the heart of the Church. Galatians 4:4-5 states, "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship."

We learn of this missional love for the world in the Gospel of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God sent! God gave! The truth we need to realize is that God gave us the gift of Jesus Christ not so that we can hoard Him for ourselves. God's aim has always been the world starting with me and you right here in New Castle, the region of Indiana, the nation of the USA, and to every people group to the four corners of the world.

By God's initiation, the Gift multiplies when we give it away! Think about it this way. Would we celebrate Christmas if it were not for Easter? If God did not take on flesh, live a perfect life and then willingly die for each of our sins so that we could be in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, then our faith would have no meaning and our faith would be in vain! The birth and death are inseparable!

Just as a kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die in order to multiply, we must give the gift of God to others in order for the gift to multiply. The principle of multiplication is dependent on understanding the relationship between life and death. To inherit eternal life, we must willingly die and surrender all to Jesus Christ. Once we have received the gift of eternal life with the Father through the Son, then we are forever secure in our inheritance as children of God and we do not have to fear anything in this life or death. We now follow the Messiah who came to the cradle for the Cross!

Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time in fulfillment of the ancient prophesy spoken through Isaiah 53:5-6, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Jesus Christ came to bring peace to all humanity by giving His life away. He was sent to die so that we may live! The Bible declares in Romans 5:1-2, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." Jesus Christ knew that he was born to give the gift of peace to all of humanity! In the same way for us as followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ, we will miss the reason for the season if we do not give away the gift.

This is the very purpose for which we live—sharing the love of God that brings peace to those on whom his favor rests. We have been given the gift of Christmas, peace with the Father through the Son empowered by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of mission—giving Him away!

This is captured so clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our testimonies declare the same message of the angels on that first Christmas morning, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests'" (Luke 8:13-14).

Have you experienced peace with God through the perfect gift of Christmas? Who is on your Christmas list? Whether they have been naughty or nice, give them what has been given to you: Peace with God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!